Got zombies? Florida shop can help you survive

The Zombie Survival store in Orlando, Florida, is a one-stop shop for all your undead apocalypse needs. Opened since April and stocked with U.S. Army and Navy surplus supplies, the store owned by Kurt Josephs offers a variety of zombie-killing gear as well as zombie books, zombie targets and zombie candy. (Jon Busdeker/Orlando Sentinel/MCT)

By JON BUSDEKER
mcclatchy-tribune

Published: October 10, 2013;Last modified: October 10, 2013 09:34AM

ORLANDO, Fla. — When the inevitable zombie apocalypse begins and brain-devouring hordes of the living dead start destroying civilization, Orlando, Fla., residents will be prepared.

Tucked away in a strip mall is one of the country’s only shops dedicated to killing the undead: the Zombie Survival store.

“Zombies get people excited,” said owner Kurt Josephs, who also owns Josephs Liquor & Fine Wines located next door. “It’s a craze right now.”

Stocked with surplus supplies from the U.S. Army and Navy, the Zombie Survival store has almost everything to combat flesh-eating zombies, including gas masks, boots, camouflage shirts, backpacks, MREs and machetes.

There are also life-sized, three-dimensional zombie targets that actually “bleed” when hit and official U.S. Zombie Hunting Permits.

Open since April, the Zombie Survival store is the brainchild of Josephs, who also operates a costume store at the end of the strip mall. In the past few years, Josephs said he began seeing a rise in the popularity of zombies, thanks to AMC’s “The Walking Dead.”

Josephs said he told several friends he wanted to open a store — the only other one in the U.S. besides The Zombie Apocalypse Store in Las Vegas — to cater exclusively to zombie enthusiasts.

“They (his friends) laughed at me,” Josephs said.

His wife supported the idea, and so Josephs moved ahead. He spent six months going to trade shows and conventions in search for zombie-themed items for the shop.

A mixture of nearby residents and tourists shop at the store, which is open most days from noon to 7 p.m., according to Josephs. And besides the zombie fans, there’s also a steady flow of ex-military men and women, police officers, survivalists and those on the hunt for Army and Navy gear.

As for if and when the dead rise from their graves in search for food, Josephs said: “We’re going to be ready.”